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WINONA, Minn. — They had to put in a little overtime to get the job done, but the Saint Mary's University baseball team finally put an end to their eight-game winning streak Friday afternoon.
And the Cardinals do so in rather dramatic fashion.
Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinals got a game-tying run on a
Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) single, before
Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.) delivered the most important of SMU's 11 hits, belting a two-out solo home run to left, lifting Saint Mary's to a 6-5 nonconference win over UW-Stout at Max Molock Field.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, there were not late-inning heroics in the nightcap, as UW-Stout erupted for five runs in the second inning and never looked back, earning a split with a 9-2 win.
The Cardinals appeared to be in complete control early on in the opener, as SMU jumped out to a 3-0 lead after four innings. UW-Stout cut the gap to one, 3-2, on a two-run by A.J. Yusten in the top of the fifth, but the Cardinals answered with a solo run in the bottom of the fifth on
Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) RBI single to right to make it 4-2.
SMU starter
Gary Seifert (Prescott, Wis.) ran into trouble in the sixth, loading the bases with no one out, as the Blue Devils scored three times to take a 5-4 lead — and set up the Cardinals' late-game heroics.
Lulic and
Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn.) joined Warren with two hits in the opener, with Warren driving in two runs and scoring twice.
SMU grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a
Chris Bogie (St. Paul, Minn.) RBI double in the bottom of the first, but the Blue Devils responded,, scoring five times in the second to take the lead for good.
The Cardinals plated their second run in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Bogie, but that would be the extent of SMU's offense, while UW-Stout would add two runs in the fourth and single runs in the fifth and seventh to seal the win.
Swanson,
Joe O'Neill (St. Paul, Minn.) and
Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) accounted for six of the team's eight hits in Game 2, as the trio all collected two hits.
The Cardinals (9-23 overall) return to conference play on Saturday, traveling to Macalester for a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against the Scots.